Rhondda Leader Maesteg Garw and Ogmore Telegraph

SATURDAY. APEIL 3, 1909 The District Cbnncil elections are fewer this year than usual, and there is also but little indication of any great up- heaval. As far as our reports to form an opinion help us, No change will be largely the result. The fight at Treorchy and Owmparc has a great deal of drum- beatingy particularly on Dr. Tribe's side. Mr. Morgan's party are not boisterous, but this may hot mean that they are downhearted. Real and genuine convic- tions always run deep, and, it is hoped, will run strong for Mr. Morgan on the polling day. To the outsider viewing the fight from a distance, but with the credentials of the candidates as expressed by their respective addresses before him, he would not hesitate, but give his sup- port to Mr. Morgan. Dr. Tribe's address is really a very barren contribution in form, substance and conception. In his effort to catch the Owmparc vote, his best administrative suggestion is only a urinal" for that district, and when it is understood that this convenience has already been ordered by the Council, and its construction is only pending land nego- tiation, then the poverty of the promise is very agonising. He is very generous in respect to road improvements every- where but in his own immediate circle at Treorchy. There are road improvements nearer his home sphere which are quite as urgently called for as those farther away. If Dr. Tribe had swept in front of his own doorsteps during his three I years' service, there would be ground for hope that he might be able to do some- thing for far-off Owmparc. Then, if he thinks that Councillor W. P. Thomas ably represents Owmparc, why does he inter- fere with his fellow-Councillor's special duty in this representation ? The Ward representation should be triangular. If Mr. W. P. Thomas is for Owmparc, Dr. Tribe would be well advised therefore to concentrate his talents on some of the Riverside roads in his own immediate circle. He has, we read from the address I opposed the removal of the Council Offices to Porth." That is not much. The general public are not better of that, but certainly it is truly a convenience for Dr. Tribe himself when called to attend the Council meetings. This opposition seems to sum up all his active doings, as judged by the address. We do require experts in the various departments for District Counlil work. Dr. Tribe would naturally be expected to attend with enthusiasm and some effect the Health Committee of the District Council. In this, again, lie has not shown up very well. Out of 16 calls to this ver- important committee, he was only able to attend five times. This is another disianDointment which This is another disappointment in the d, address which should be noted. Mr. Morgan, in his address, travels on a much higher plane. Evidence of actual breadth of view is not absent. In the ex- perience of the general duties Mr. Morgan has an equal term of three years to his credit and in the matter of definite expert usefulness also he has a strong claim to the consideration of the people. The District Council has a manifold re- sponsibility. as we have alraedy said, but unquestionably the great and all-permating obligation is the duty of providing sound educational opportunities for the people's children. In this comparison, Mr. Morgan is pre-eminently in front of Dr. Tribe. Happily, the Council has in Dr. Thomas, of Pentre, an active and indefatigable Health Committee expert, but the Council has not a single expert in Education of the practical type which Mr. Morgan represents. he Treorchy and Owmparc electors would strengthen the Council if they gave express preference this time for the teacher and not for the docto The soul and character making of future citizens is the duty of the teacher, and the presence of a man like Mr. Morgan, with forty years of actual touch with the youmr. would be a very great acquisition in the Education Committees bf the Council. Yn v frwydr yma v mae genyih. !gyn»^rchio|wyr meddyginiaeth y corff a meddvginiaeth vr enaid ar y maes. Diamheuot yr enaid ddylai gario os bydd pawb yn ei hunan bwyll a'i lygaid ar ddelfrydau uchel a dyrchafedig."

(mF £ ¥p £ opLE have ^ksj EYES ALIKE. ir Fully nine-tenths have different vision in each eye. A careless examination < will fail to find out this defect, and if the sa,me glasses are fitted to both eyes, I headaches and eyestrain will result. We test each eye separately. W. P. CARYL, F.S.M -» testing Specialist, | 16, High Stpeet, Apeade, CARDIFF. And 15, Union Street, Swansea. MID-RHONDDA ATHLETIC GROUNDS, TONYPANDY GRAND Eft A% PROFESSIONAL flTHLETIC SPORTS ,n,, O'HTS HORSE RACING, GALLOWAY & TROTTING HANDICAPS Willbe held on the above Grounds on Easter Monday, April 12, 1909, Gates open at 1 o'clock. Sports w commence at, 2 tun. sharp. Entries close positively tirst post Wednesday, April 7th, 1909. Admission: Field, 1/ Enclosure and Grand Stand, 6d. extra. For Cheap Fares and Times of Bookings on Great Western and Taff Vale Railways, see Special Biltaat all Stations For further information and Entry- Fdruw'apply—Secretary-, DAVID LLEWELLYN, Athletic Club, Tonypandy. Pigeon Shooting Handicap on Good Friday. Starting at 11 o'clock Kntrauce Fee, 5/-each. First Priae. £ tO; Second, jB2; Third, Cl. A Plentiful Supply of Birds.

Mid-Rhondda Chamber of Trade. The usual monthly meeting of the above Chamber took place at the Grocers' Rooms, Wellington Chambers on Wed- nesday evening. Mr J. Owen Jones occu- pied the chair. He was supported by Mr L. W. Llewelyn. A large number of members attended. Arising out of the correspondence, a letter was read from Mr. Flack, Ponty- pridd, in relation to a telephone office for Tonypandy Lower Post Office, stating that he would see into the matter. The report of the deputation that waited upon Mr. Will Stone was to the slTeci that it was not convenient to let them have the Hippodrome on the night they required. Mr. D. S. Thomas, one of the delegates that attended the Amalgamated (Si ambers of Trade meeting at Mertjiyr, gave very elaborate report upon that meeting, which waa considered very satisfactory. He said that it was decided at Merthyr for the united Chambers to send a deputa- I. tion to Mr. Beasley in relation to the railway combine. AUCTIONEERS AND THE SHOP HOURS ACT. A notice of motion by Mr. Llewellyn Evans, To consider the best way to deal with those auctioneers and others who do not comply with the Hours of Closing Order," was brought before the meeting and freely discussed. It was ultimately decided to petition the Home Secretary on the matter. HORSE SHOW AFFAIRS. The business in relation to the Horse Show was again discussed largely. A notice of motion by Mr. T. R. Davies (grocer), To rescind the minute passed at the general meeting of the Chamber" on October 21st last with reference to the Horse Show and other undertakings, and to move that in future the Horse Show and similar undertakings be not run under the auspices of the Chamber of Trade," was, after considerable discussion, with- drawn. and the following notice of motion, brought forward by Mr. D. S. Thomas, will be submitted at the next general meeting: That. the minute passed at the last meeting of the Chamber, that there would be no Horse Show promoted by the Chamber for 1909. be rescinded." BACK STREETS WANT LOOKING AFTER. It was decided to interview Inspector Hole in relation to having resident police constables in the back streets of Tony- pandy and Llwynvpia. ROYAL VISIT TO MID-RHONDDA. Ways and means of making tlte Royal visit as successful as possible was referred to the Executive Committee to deal with.

—: « EGG-SHAPKP SKULLS TO ORDER. The egg-shaped heads of eome of the natives of Maiokula, in the New Hebridae, were once thought to be naturally conical. For that reason scientific men decided that the, Malekulans were at the bottom rung of the human ladder. Later it was found that the conical heads were pro- duced as the Chinese women distorted their feet, by binding them in infancy. The egg-shaped head is still fashionable in Malekula, where some extraordinary results are achieved. A conical head retreate from the forehead in such a man- ner that one is amazed to know the owner of this remarkable profile preserves his or her proper senses, such as they are. The conical shape is produced by winding strong einnet cord spirally about the heads of the babies and tight- ening the co.rds from tirn-e to time. A piece of pleated mat ;.ft first put on the head and the cord is coiled over this so as to give it a good pur- chase. The crown of the head is left to develop in the upward and backward fashion that is so much admired.

FACTS IN BRIEF. The world's railway-engines cover an eggr8- gate of 7,000,000 milca a day. The art of softening bones for use as knife, handles, &c was first discovered in 1688. Stockholm, Christiana, Berlin, and LondoB are the most healthy of European capitate. In the seventeenth century, absence frOlO church was a punishable offence in this country* A man's voice, through a cpeaking-trunpet 20. t. long, hae been heard a distance of twenty miles. It ie reckoned that the world loses yearly wear and tear two tons of coined gold iand l00 tons of silver. London's average autumn rainfall is January, February, and March have only The yearly fall ie 25in. Some years ago a turtle was killed in West Indies 7ft. long and 15ft. in diameter, ^weighed a little short of a ton.. There/was an old custom in Mid-Lancashire the effect that any couplo found courting Friday night was accompanied home t>y village youths 'with an f -•cnoetra ip.-which P* kettles, and fire-iron* w.«re the prominent u»»* ■nentA.

MAY DEW. May dew-that is, the dew gathered early on any day in May used to be considered of the greatest value as a cosmetic. Town ladies, young and old, made expeditions into the coun- try to gather the dew, and so make their com- plexions beautiful for ever." Pepys. the diarist, notes several occasions on which b;5 wife went on this errand. One in particular put him in a thoroughly good humour, for as soon as he had disposed of his womankind by sending them into the country for dew, he himself went off to "Foxhall," where he had a gay time with plenty of company, Jews' harps, and nightin- gales. The music seems to have been a trifle mixed. Even a century ago the old custom was still maintained, and many Londoners observed May Day by going early into the fields and bathing their faces in the dew which lav heavily on the grass. At Edinburgh, folk used to toil to the top of Arthur's Seat before sunrise to "meet, the dew," as they phrased it. Others preferred the mountain dew," but in a different form.

The contest in No. 1 Ward is, fought between Mr. D. R. Jones, the old mem- ber, and Mr. Rees Morgan Rees, the secretary of the Treherbert Conservative Club. When Mr. Rees opposed Mr. Win. H. Morgan last year, we had no hesi- tation in supporting Mr. Morgan. In that view, the electors' action at the polls was a glorious confirmation. We fail to see any reason whatever why this time .11 he should be given preference before Mr D. R. Jones. The retiring Councillor, if not showy, is emphatically a genuine man, anti -TSutUrS to assert that a more upright and straightforward representa- tive cannot be found. He has also alQllg experience of the work, and has, and is now doing good solid work for the Ward. His address contrasts most strikingly with that of his opponent. It gives a good list of what has been done, and there is with it a generous tribute to the co-operative share of his two Labour colleagues in achieving the results that have been won for the Ward. Nid da os gellir gwell is a sound maxim, but there is no gwell Mr. Re-es' address is glittering with promises, and suggests problems which are now in actual process of con- sideration by the sitting members in co- operation with Mr. D. R. Jones. Mr. Rees, attempts to prove the necessity of his personal presence on the District Cbuncil by implying disgraceful negli- gence on the part of the local Councillors, not only hits Mr. D. R. Jones, but the two Labour members also. If Messrs. Morgan and Evans have been unfaithful, does Mr. Rees think it will be believed that Labour will be safe in his hands? His Conservative twist will not help such a belief. When a candidate attempts to build a claim by such methods, intelligent people kmow what value to set upon such pretensions. Mr. Rees has maintained a very discreet silence in respect to his official connection with the Conservative Club. "I appeal to you as a Labour representative," and if with frankness, he should add without a levy." Work- ing men must note these things. We still continue to think that a Conservative working man is one whose convictions are too often at the mercy of the lords of monopoly and privilege in the gilded halls of the Carlton Club. Such people are no friends of Labour, and our objection to Mr. Rees is that his associations and con- nections with such folks makes his repre- sentation of the real and genuine worker a very shifty obligation, and, therefore, untrustworthy to the struggling demo- cracy. Ward No. 1 Labour is safe with its present two Labour Councillors. Mr. D. R. Jones is in excellent working sym- pathy with them and has many a time in the past proved his steadfast loyalty to the interests of the Bhondda when demanding its rights and privileges from the common fund of the district. + Although in Ward 6 many think it un- fortunate that there is no direct Labour representative, yet it is difficult to some to the view that the retiring member Mr J. D. Williams, should be denied the un- disputed right of every faithful worker to the retention of his position. Mr. Wm. John has in every way a very fine com- bination of qualities which should develop with time and experience into a valuable representative. He is a young man of good repute among those who have known him, and he beans both in work and s-ociiety an excellent character; but in fairness, we must say that we know no fairness, we must say that we know no young man in this Ward at the present who could, without very considerable ex- perience, supply efficiently the displace- ment which would result from the with- drawal of Mr. J. D. Williams from the sphere of the District Council. What- ever can be said on the negative side, we feel no hesitation in asserting that there are strong positive forces belonging to Mr. Williams which we feel bound generously to recognise and which powers are founH frequently invaluable when many of the detail obligatory duties of a Dis- trict Councillor are in the performing. During the last three years, we are bound honestly to give special credit for the extraordinary way he worked for a good wholesome water supply for Trealaw. The dual way in which this is supplied is well known. The Pontypridd Water Company had to be severely taken to task, and in that struggle Mr. John Wiljiams' evidence before the Judge in London was the telijing contribution which won for the district the plentiful and uncomplaining SUP1"1- now existing in that Dart of the Ward. Really, Lower Trealaw district would be ungrateful indeed if it did not recognise this successful change which Mr. Williams did so much to secure. Opposition critics may think we are too generous and laudatory in this estimate. We are not. We want to give honest credit whenever and wherever deserved. In this serious crisis, when the water supply at Trealaw was a human problem, Mr. John Williams proved a personal mettle which immensely helped the con- quest for the people of healtry domestic conditions. Hisscourage and tenacity in that stage revealed the fact that he could coolly and calmly facfi any music "■ which his representative duties demanded. For these reasons aud others of a general kind long and useful service—we think that) the old member will again receive a renewal of the honour.